As I mentioned before, most Irish whiskies are made by 4 major distilleries. Due to the increasing demand in whiskies, more distilleries were built recently, however most of them are too young to sell their whiskies yet. Whiskeys usually needs 3 years to mature at least.
Among these newer distilleries, I found one that's already selling their whiskies, called Teeling Distilleries, which is the first new distillery in Dublin in 125 years.
Irish whiskey in general is triple distilled, which makes them different from most Scotch whisky. It is said triple distillation makes it smoother. Since this is a new distillery, they had only 3 pot stills, which can make only 1 batch at a time.
The tour guide was very nice and the tour was very informative. But she was trying to emphasize that Irish were the first to make whiskey and not the Scottish. I wonder whether the Irish have some rivalry with Scottish when it comes to whiskey... I was always curious what makes Irish whiskies creamy in note. It is the unmalted barley. In Scotland all the barley used in their malt whisky is malted, whereas some Irish distilleries started mixing malted and unmalted barley to compete against Scotch whiskies for the price (the Scottish do make "grain whisky" as well, which can include unmalted barley and other grains but it's not as common as Irish'). Thus, the Irish approach for cost reduction created the distinctive flavor of Irish whiskey. Unfortunately, I'm not crazy for the creamy note in my whiskey. I wonder if the Irish also make a version with all malted barley...
Also, it seems the Irish are more into blended whiskey. The whiskey tasting included two blended (barley and corn) whiskeys and one single malt (barley). Because corn has higher starch content, any whiskies containing corn will be sweeter. One of the two blended whiskies is called "Small Batch" which wasn't too sweet and very smooth. But I still liked single malt better (maybe I don't like too sweet whiskey...)
After the tour at Teeling, I went to Vintage Kitchen for lunch, which was recommended by the bartender at Mulligan's yesterday. It is a very cozy restaurant. When I arrived at the restaurant at 12:30, it was pretty empty... The menu is like a mixture of French bistro and contemporary casual Californian restaurant.
This is risotto of chili chorizo. The risotto is in the small cup, which seems like a measuring cup. And it's on top of a small skillet. Interesting presentation. The flavor and seasoning is on the stronger side. It's not a risotto in Italian style (al dente) by any means. But it was good otherwise.
The next dish, Cod brandade & samphire, is very unique dish. Cod is shredded finely and mixed with bechamel-like sauce and baked until the top is browned. A unique vegetable, called samphire is on top of it. The samphire is a succulent that grows around the British isles. It could be blanched in salt water. Not much flavor but it has a nice crunchy texture. It's served with chicory leaves.
With this upclose photo, it may be difficult to tell what this is, but it's fish pie. The fish seems to be cod or a similarly mild whitefish. It was a good portion and I couldn't finish it. The potato on top was very filling (it looks like strangely shaped cloud...). Compared to the first two appetizers, it was seasoned lightly and the sauce at the bottom was very thin. Lots of fish pieces inside the sauce. This dish and the previous cod dish were both served on top of wooden cutting board. I did see something like this last night too. Probably some trend in Dublin??
This lamb shank is cooked to perfection. Very tender and moist. I've had a few dry lamb shanks before because they're cooked at too high a temperature. The sauce is a more tomatoey but less tangy BBQ-like sauce. The presentation is very fancy, all the ingredients were placed directly on the flat stone.
Very good food, I'm glad the bartender of Mulligan's recommended this restaurant. By the time I left around 2:00pm, the restaurant was full. I guess their lunch time is late??
After lunch, I headed to the old Jameson distillery. Although they offer a tour, their whiskey is not made there anymore. Jameson whiskey is now made at Middleton distillery, which is one of the major distilleries in Ireland. Middleton is located 30min east of Cork. I had originally planed to visit Cork and Middleton but I thought it's too much time for moving (it takes 3 hours to Cork from Dublin). Besides, I found this tasting room with tour in the city of Dublin.
Since it's not a production facility, I was expecting something touristy. It is indeed touristy. The tour is conducted every 20 minutes, yet each group is more than 20 people. According to the guide, Jameson just remodeled the building and tour facility. This building is the original location where Jameson whiskey was first made. They used the original building material efficiently and added all modern features. By now, I've been to several distilleries and I thought I knew quite a bit about the whiskey making. However, their animated video explaining how whiskey is made was impressive. Since I can't see inside all of the processing equipment, I had to count on the guide's explanation and my guess. But this video cleared all of my uncertainty.
Moreover, there are some samples that help to understand the video even more by smelling, touching and eating. It was very well thought-out and organized presentation. There are two kinds of whiskey in the spray containers, along with small pieces of paper. It's like testing perfume. 3 flasks with differently aged whiskey are linearly getting darker, showing the color difference. The two kinds of barley are malted and unmalted.
The most interesting part of the interactive exhibit was the comparison of different casks: sherry and bourbon. The caps are made with corresponding woods and the same whiskies are placed inside. By opening the cap and smelling both the whiskey and the bottom of the cap, I could clearly tell the difference. Now I see why sherry casks are used for higher grade whiskey in both Scotland and Ireland. The one in the sherry cask smelled very "whiskey" but the one in bourbon cask smelled like some furniture.
After the tour, the tasting came with 3 samples. Jameson's Whiskey is only one of them. This is the comparison tasting with Johnny Walker and Jack Daniel's. Johnny Walker represents peaty (smokey) Scotch whisky and Jack Daniel's shows the example of corn-made sweet whiskey. Jameson's was blended whiskey too. These were very good representations of different type of whiskies.
The admission ticket comes with one free drink coupon at the bar. Very touristy but I'm not complaining.. I could have their blend whiskey as is but I chose a cocktail since I haven't had any whiskey cocktails since I started the trip. The cocktail was called "Jameson, ginger & lime" and contained whiskey, ginger ale, and a lime wedge. Very refreshing.
More alcohol!!! It's Guinness! I was going to skip this because it seems very touristy. But because the Jameson's tour was very good despite the "touristiness", I decided to give a try (besides I had enough time). But when I arrived, I kind of regretted it. VERY touristy with a long line of waiting people. They control the number of visitors per 30 minute period. However, when I got inside, it was still very packed.
Like Jameson, the admission ticket include one free drink (or three tastings). Of course I chose three samples. There are more tasting rooms (it seems there's an additional charge). But these rooms looked super packed. Because the entire facility is so packed with tourists, it was also very hot and humid. I just decided to leave. Although the building is adjacent to the production facility, they don't offer any production tours.... I guess this is not a "foodie" destination. At least I can say I've been to the Guinness plant!
This is the last meal in Dublin because I'm leaving tomorrow morning. This is a brew pub, called Porterhouse. They make their own beer and serve it with food. It seems the Irish meal time is on the later side; I arrived at this restaurant around 6:00 and got a table but soon after that, all the tables were taken.
This is their house IPA, Porterhouse IPA. I think this is the closest to the US single IPA. I've tried quite a few beers since I came to Scotland and Ireland. Although everywhere I went to had IPA, I never saw double or triple IPA (even in the US, I don't see triple IPA that often anymore. Probably because of the increase in the price of hops?). Also, the highest alcohol ABV is 6.5% or something similar. I guess some of the high alcohol beers sold in the US could be considered as crazy ones outside the US. I usually drink beer with 8-9% beers (sometimes 11%) so I never got drunk during this trip...
Since this is the last supper, I decided to order more traditional Irish dishes (although I saw more interesting dishes in the menu). The first dish is bacon and cabbage. But when I saw the dish coming to the table, it looked different from what I was expecting. But I thought this is this restaurant's original version or something.
In reality, I was getting it mixed up in my mind with corned beef and cabbage which, I discovered upon researching later, is an Irish-American dish. In fact, it's the American version of bacon and cabbage. I guess it's like pizza, chow mein or teriyaki chicken in that respect. Very much a "comfort food".
The second entree is bangers and mash, which I had in Belfast also. Unlike the one I had in Belfast, the sausage is one long piece and the sausage seemed not to have filler. The texture was more familiar to me. Slightly on the dry side but very "meaty"and delicious.
Since I'm leaving in the morning tomorrow, this is the last entry of the trip. I'm sure this is the trip where I consumed the largest amount of alcohol. Yet, I never felt drunk or sick!
As to whisky (or whiskey depending on which country I'm in), I still like single malt Scotch whisky. As I mentioned, I'm not a big fan of creamy/dairy notes in my drink (not only whisky but also wine). I still don't like too peaty (smoky) scotch whisky either because it tastes like a band aid. But I think a hint of smokiness could give a unique characteristic. As usual for me, I like longer aged foods (cheese, balsamic vinegar, miso, etc.). At most distilleries, I liked the longer aged whiskies. The only problem is the price.... Anyway, this is another successful foodie (or drinkie) trip!
